Spring bloom onset in the Nordic Seas
The North Atlantic spring bloom is a massive annual growth event of marine phytoplankton, tiny free-floating algae that form the base of the ocean's food web and generates a large fraction of the global primary production of organic matter. The conditions that trigger the onset of the spring bl...
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ftmit:oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/107164 2023-06-11T04:09:36+02:00 Spring bloom onset in the Nordic Seas Mignot, Alexandre Ferrari, Raffaele Mork, Kjell Arne Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Mignot, Alexandre Ferrari, Raffaele 2016-05 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/107164 en_US eng Copernicus GmbH/European Geosciences Union http://www.biogeosciences.net/13/3485/2016/ Biogeosciences 1726-4189 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/107164 Mignot, Alexandre, Raffaele Ferrari, and Kjell Arne Mork. "Spring bloom onset in the Nordic Seas.” Biogeosciences 13.3485 (2016): 3485-3502. orcid:0000-0002-3298-8055 orcid:0000-0002-3736-1956 Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Copernicus Publications Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 2016 ftmit 2023-05-29T08:25:53Z The North Atlantic spring bloom is a massive annual growth event of marine phytoplankton, tiny free-floating algae that form the base of the ocean's food web and generates a large fraction of the global primary production of organic matter. The conditions that trigger the onset of the spring bloom in the Nordic Seas, at the northern edge of the North Atlantic, are studied using in situ data from six bio-optical floats released north of the Arctic Circle. It is often assumed that spring blooms start as soon as phytoplankton cells daily irradiance is sufficiently abundant that division rates exceed losses. The bio-optical float data instead suggest the tantalizing hypothesis that Nordic Seas blooms start when the photoperiod, the number of daily light hours experienced by phytoplankton, exceeds a critical value, independently of division rates. The photoperiod trigger may have developed at high latitudes where photosynthesis is impossible during polar nights and phytoplankton enters into a dormant stage in winter. While the first accumulation of biomass recorded by the bio-optical floats is consistent with the photoperiod hypothesis, it is possible that some biomass accumulation started before the critical photoperiod but at levels too low to be detected by the fluorometers. More precise observations are needed to test the photoperiod hypothesis. National Science Foundation (U.S.) (NSF award OCE-1155205) Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Nordic Seas North Atlantic Phytoplankton DSpace@MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) Arctic |
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DSpace@MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) |
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ftmit |
language |
English |
description |
The North Atlantic spring bloom is a massive annual growth event of marine phytoplankton, tiny free-floating algae that form the base of the ocean's food web and generates a large fraction of the global primary production of organic matter. The conditions that trigger the onset of the spring bloom in the Nordic Seas, at the northern edge of the North Atlantic, are studied using in situ data from six bio-optical floats released north of the Arctic Circle. It is often assumed that spring blooms start as soon as phytoplankton cells daily irradiance is sufficiently abundant that division rates exceed losses. The bio-optical float data instead suggest the tantalizing hypothesis that Nordic Seas blooms start when the photoperiod, the number of daily light hours experienced by phytoplankton, exceeds a critical value, independently of division rates. The photoperiod trigger may have developed at high latitudes where photosynthesis is impossible during polar nights and phytoplankton enters into a dormant stage in winter. While the first accumulation of biomass recorded by the bio-optical floats is consistent with the photoperiod hypothesis, it is possible that some biomass accumulation started before the critical photoperiod but at levels too low to be detected by the fluorometers. More precise observations are needed to test the photoperiod hypothesis. National Science Foundation (U.S.) (NSF award OCE-1155205) |
author2 |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Mignot, Alexandre Ferrari, Raffaele |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Mignot, Alexandre Ferrari, Raffaele Mork, Kjell Arne |
spellingShingle |
Mignot, Alexandre Ferrari, Raffaele Mork, Kjell Arne Spring bloom onset in the Nordic Seas |
author_facet |
Mignot, Alexandre Ferrari, Raffaele Mork, Kjell Arne |
author_sort |
Mignot, Alexandre |
title |
Spring bloom onset in the Nordic Seas |
title_short |
Spring bloom onset in the Nordic Seas |
title_full |
Spring bloom onset in the Nordic Seas |
title_fullStr |
Spring bloom onset in the Nordic Seas |
title_full_unstemmed |
Spring bloom onset in the Nordic Seas |
title_sort |
spring bloom onset in the nordic seas |
publisher |
Copernicus GmbH/European Geosciences Union |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/107164 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Nordic Seas North Atlantic Phytoplankton |
genre_facet |
Arctic Nordic Seas North Atlantic Phytoplankton |
op_source |
Copernicus Publications |
op_relation |
http://www.biogeosciences.net/13/3485/2016/ Biogeosciences 1726-4189 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/107164 Mignot, Alexandre, Raffaele Ferrari, and Kjell Arne Mork. "Spring bloom onset in the Nordic Seas.” Biogeosciences 13.3485 (2016): 3485-3502. orcid:0000-0002-3298-8055 orcid:0000-0002-3736-1956 |
op_rights |
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ |
_version_ |
1768383554025160704 |